


swimming in this strange sea

by kaorujin



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: College AU, F/F, accidental marriage au, kryptonians have weird mating rituals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-04-17 00:37:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14176785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaorujin/pseuds/kaorujin
Summary: Lena just wants to get her college degree and hide away in LuthorCorp's labs forever, away from all the judgmental and condemning eyes. But now she has this really sweet but weird girl who keeps bringing her food and taking her places just because she was nice one time?—Kryptonians have really weird mating rituals and Lena's confused but gay so she's not complaining.





	1. it's her hair and her eyes today

**Author's Note:**

> This kinda got entirely out of hand. To the folks on tumblr, thanks for waiting. Have fun y'all

It’s a typical Tuesday afternoon during midterm season and Lena Luthor finds herself sitting alone eating a salad for lunch at the cafe connected to the library. She hasn’t slept in a week and she hasn’t even taken an exam yet. She almost falls forward into her lettuce when suddenly her body feels prickly with embarrassment. In her periphery, she sees a pretty blonde clad in khakis and a baby blue button up come around the corner.

She has almost completely forgotten (more like repressed) their strange encounter in the library two weeks ago when said blonde approaches her. The girl clears her throat and politely asks if she can sit across from Lena, which is peculiar given the number of available seats surrounding them. It seems that even in a crowded library nobody wants to sit near a Luthor.

“Uh, hi, Lena, right?” she asks and offers a meek smile – which is still unfairly one of the prettiest smiles Lena has ever seen in her life. Lena’s cautious as to why Kara’s even talking to her but decides to take the bait anyways (what can she say – she’s a simple woman: pretty girl talks to her, she’ll talk back).

“Yeah, and you’re uh, Kara?”

Kara instantly perks up and gives the cutest “mhmm” Lena’s ever heard. “So you’re a…” she glances at the book sitting under Lena’s salad, “bio-engineering major?”

Fuck okay, Lena thinks, this is actually happening. Mayday, mayday an actual conversation with a pretty girl is actually happening. God help her gay soul. “Ye- yeaah, the math is so dull, but it is what it is.” Lena shrugs and offers, “You?”

“Aerospace! I really like the stars!” Fucking nailed it. Lena swears she can actually see stars twinkle in Kara’s eyes. She can work with this. She smiles and asks, “Future NASA employee?”

“Oh golly, I hope so!” Lena’s so charmed by Kara’s enthusiasm (and all of Kara if she’s being honest with herself). “I’m assuming you’re a third year?”

Lena nods and Kara brightens even more somehow, “Oh wow, me too! I’m surprised we haven’t seen each other before.”

Lena shrugs again, “Different majors. We probably had a few math and chemistry classes before but you know how big this school is.”

“Oh gosh I know!” Kara agrees readily, “Why are there so many hills in National City anyways?”

Lena laughs at Kara’s thrown hands and furrowed brows as she drops a few more complaints about the school, especially the dining hall food (“My poor friend, Winn, almost got _poisoned_ his first year! It’s biological warfare out there!”).

They exchange a bit more small talk before falling into awkward silence. Lena takes a few bites of her salad before just realizing that Kara doesn’t have a lunch in front of her. For a girl who’s so passionate about food, Lena thinks this is a crime against Kara. Lena’s about to ask if she wants something when Kara blurts out, “Wait I have something for you!”

She unzips her bag and quickly pulls out a bracelet as if she knew exactly where it was and has been waiting to give it to Lena this whole time.

Lena’s speechless.

“Umm this is very kind of you, Kara, but I don’t think we know each other well enough to be accepting gifts yet,” Lena tries to politely decline, “It is a wonder-”

Kara cuts her off, “Please!” Lena’s startled by her intense outburst and she’s glad that no one else cares enough to pay them any attention. Kara flushes and softens her voice, “Please, this is important to me. I just want you to have this.”

It’s a not so typical Tuesday afternoon during midterm season that Lena finds herself sitting alone eating a salad for lunch – a newly acquired bracelet sitting on her left wrist and a new phone number in her contacts labeled Kara Danvers.

//

Kara texts her fifteen minutes later.

_—Hi! It’s Kara!_

Lena smiles and contemplates if she should respond with something friendly or funny. She settles on an inbetween.

_—Hi Kara! It’s Lena and don’t worry I didn’t give you a fake number ;)_

Her phone vibrates immediately back to back.

_—I didn’t think that you did!_

_—Hey random question but what’s your favorite food?_

Lena types her reply and then packs her things, finished with her lunch and ready to go study.

Her phone is vibrating incessantly on the table. The screen says she has 4 new texts from Kara.

_—Gross!!! Kale?!?!?!?!_

The next text is full of emojis depicting disgust full of green heads, vomiting, a toilet , and even a knife. A knife?

_—No I can’t accept this!!_

_—Please pick again_

Lena would have never pegged herself to be that person that walked the halls while texting on their phone. Hell, she never used to be on her phone this much at all, taking to avoiding social media and the news.

Then again, she never anticipated someone like Kara Danvers to appear in her life either.

//

A week later, Lena walks into her lab finishing up a text to Kara (“Hey I’m about to go into lab so ttyl. Definitely order that extra large pizza though. You deserve it!”). The bracelet snags just a bit on her jacket when she shoves her phone into her pocket. She’s still not quite used to the extra weight dangling on her wrist. Immediately, the other lab assistant, Jess, zones in on her like a shark smelling blood. Though in Jess’ case, it’s a theater girl sensing drama. She grabs Lena’s wrist and holds her hand up as if to see the bracelet against the light.

Even in her moments of not swimming in self-deprecation, Lena still doesn’t get why Jess isn’t repulsed by her very existence like the rest of the campus seems to be. Jess only claims that she knew Lena before the whole debacle and that, in her words verbatim, “I’m your ride or die, Luthor. You ain’t getting rid of this bitch ass any time soon.”

So here is her self-proclaimed ride or die gazing intensely between the bracelet and what appears to be her very soul. With one last satisfying gaze at the bracelet, she peers into Lena’s eyes and utters one phase.

Very seriously.

“Girl spill.”

So Lena spills about her encounters with Kara. “Okay, so like a month ago, I went at the library to start Jepsen’s stupid history paper right? But then I see that this girl dropped her jacket. So I go to pick it up for her, but it’s all heavy and like definitely not a jacket so I go:

_“Oh, hey you dropped your … cloak?” Lena voice trails off in confusion as she holds the heavy red fabric in her hand and almost drops it again when the blonde stranger lifts her head and takes out her earphones._

_“Oh thanks! I didn’t even notice that, kind stranger,” she turns in her chair and smiles so brightly that Lena definitely fumbles with the cloak as she hands it over to the girl’s outstretched hand._

_With her free hand, the girl extends it out for a handshake. “I’m Kara Danvers. Nice to meet you!” Her hands are impossibly soft but her grip is firm. Lena manages to offer a meager “Lena Luthor. Pleasure” before Kara starts to stare intensely at their joint hands as if she just realized something severe._

_Fuck, she should have left out her last name._

_Lena extracts her hand from Kara’s grasp and awkwardly excuses herself to the farthest corner of the library. Sneaking a quick glance back in her escape, she notices that Kara is still staring intensely at the hand she shook while firmly grasping her cloak._

“She just stared at her hand?” Jess asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” Lena confirms. “It’s weird, right?”

“That’s a little weird I gotta admit,” Jess says, then she teases, “She probably thought you gave her cooties.”

“Shut up, Huang.” Lena lightly smacks her arm.

Jess rubs her arm as if she was hurt and pouts a little.

Lena sticks out her tongue in return.

“She sounds pretty though. Get it, Luthor,” Jess adds and then makes her way over to the project. “Hey, help me with this before the postdoc comes in.”

“You’re just bossing me around today aren’t you, Jessica Huang. Watch it you’re gonna work for me one day,” Lena jokes as puts on her lab coat.

“Girl, I’m planning on it. Catch me in LuthorCorp’s R&D,” she says as she slides on her protective glasses, “Why do you think we’re friends?”

Lena freezes. It’s subtle but she freezes. And Jess, being Jess, notices.

She softens, “Oh hey hey Lena. I didn’t mean it like that, girl. I just meant I’m gonna stick with you no matter what okay? Ride or die, Lena, ride or die.”

Lena offers a small smile in return. Jess can work with that, so she takes the opportunity to switch topics, “Sooo, what about that bracelet though? That’s from her huh?”

Lena blushes and recites her second library encounter with Kara and how she practically shoved the bracelet at her.

“God, she sounds so weird, but that’s so fucking cute,” Jess says taking another look at the bracelet. “Pass me the screwdriver real quick?”

“Yeah, sure. Here.”

“Thanks.” She proceeds to tighten a bolt. “So, you’d get her number?”

Lena shyly admits that they text nearly every day.

“Oh my god,” Jess softly whispers as she puts down her screwdriver. “Oh my god!”

“What?” Lena asks, blinking owlishly, “What’s going on with you?”

Jess is honest to god glowing as she grabs Lena by her shoulders. “Oh. My. God.” she says with a shake between each utterance.

“I am so happy for you! I never thought this day would come. Lena Lesbian Luthor you’re finally becoming Lena Laid Lesbian Luthor! I am so proud of you.” At this point, Jess looks like she’s tearing up.

Lena smacks her hands off her shoulders. “I seriously hate when you make an L word my middle name and you know that.”

“Girl you don’t even know how happy this makes me.” Jess picks her screwdriver again. “I was ready to sign you up for Tinder. We all know you need a good-“

“Jess, you better not fucking say it.”

“What I was just gonna say-“

“If you make a pun right now I swear to god-“

“I was gonna say ‘fuck’ you bitch,” Jess laughs and lightly pokes Lena with the screwdriver. “Now, just shut up and thank whatever deity you may or may not believe in because a cute girl like this may never appear in your life ever again.”

Just then the postdoc walks in and Jess immediately acts as if she wasn’t overly concerned with what was happening in Lena’s love life. Theater kids.

When they’re both done for the day, Lena checks her phone and sees she has two new messages from Kara.

_—_ _Have fun in lab! And you already know I will!!_

The second message is a photo. Before she can get a good look, Jess steals her phone. “Oh my god is that her? Wow she is pretty.”

Already knowing it’s better to just let Jess hand her phone back when she’s ready, Lena settles for looking over her shoulder. She laughs. In the photo, Kara’s attempting to fit a whole slice of pizza into her mouth and impressively manages a good portion.

Jess whistles, “Damn this girl can eat though.” She returns the phone and winks, “Get it, Luthor. I expect updates.”

Lena kicks her.

//

It’s been two weeks since Lena’s acquired her bracelet, and she admits didn’t actually take that long to grow accustomed to having it on her wrist (she definitely does not wear it while she sleeps okay she does _not_ ). Oddly enough she feels like she _shouldn’t_ take it off. Just the very thought starts to make her upset so she doesn’t think about it.

But what she’s taking a while to adjust to is how _frequent_ Kara Danvers appears in her life now — and it’s not just the daily texting. It’s like that — gosh what’s the one phenomenon Lex taught her as a kid? — the one thing where you suddenly notice like a cut on your finger and now you can’t not notice it. (Damn it and now she’s thinking about Lex.)

Basically, Kara Danvers is a cut on her finger she’s just noticed and now she can’t help but feel it tingle on her skin and she’s not sure how she’s supposed to react it yet.

But right now that cut is burning because apparently Kara has class in the adjacent room and it’s dismissed at the same time as hers.

“Lena!” Kara calls maneuvering her away to Lena’s side as the other students shuffle out of the corridor. Her arm accidentally brushes against Lena’s and normally, Lena’s one to instantly retract herself and make distance because she hates skin contact unless she’s expecting it, but there’s something about Kara that just feels right. Hell, her whole body seems to light up in response.

“Funny, I didn’t know you had discussion right next to mine,” Kara begins as they make their way down the stairs.

“I normally don’t come but we had a quiz today,” Lena admits.

Kara laughs, “Of course, discussions are just a waste of time for your genius self. Do you have class after this?”

“No, I have a gap so I was going to get some lunch,” Lena says and then she’s not sure what compels her. “You can join me if you’re free.”

“Oh sweet, I’m done for the day but I’ll definitely take you on that offer!” Kara agrees and Lena looks away to hide her blush.

Lena finds out as they make their way to the food court and place their orders that Kara is just as enjoyable to talk to in person as she is over text. She’s charming but quirky and Lena loves listening to her stories.

Lena realizes that although they know a lot about each other’s quirks from their texting, they don’t actually know a lot about each other’s lives.

“You had a pet cat?” Lena asks.

“Yeah, his name was Streaky! He was the gentlest lil fella. Did you have pets?”

“No, my mom said they’d get fur everywhere. I had a bonsai tree if that counts?”

She finds out Kara’s adopted just like her. Lena knows about Alex, the beloved older sister, because Kara gushes about her often; but today, she learns that Alex is currently getting her M.D./PhD. from Stanford. They grew up in a small coastal town in Central California and one time Alex shot Kara in the stomach with a potato because they had just watched Dodgeball and didn’t have a wrench around.

“But you had a bazooka that shot potatoes?” Lena asks as her tomato drops from her fork, almost in as much disbelief as she is.

Kara nods with her mouth full of hamburger before swallowing,  “My adopted dad had very peculiar hobbies. But hey it didn’t hurt as much as the second time!”

Lena drops her newly speared tomato again, “You let her shoot you a second time?”

Kara colors. “She was very into House M.D. and she was reminded of its existence when House took Thirteen to a spud gun competition. She convinced me that my reflexes grew better over the years,” she takes a drink and gulps down a few mouthfuls. “She was wrong. So very, very wrong.”

Lena laughs heartily at that. “I must meet this sister of yours.”

“Do you have siblings?” Kara asks so offhandedly that Lena grows wary. As if the whole nation doesn’t know about her brother.

“Doesn’t everybody know about Lex?” Lena shoots back and stabs at her salad. Suddenly, she’s not so hungry.

Kara doesn’t seem to notice Lena’s sudden coldness. “Oh your brother’s name is Lex? That’s short for Alexander right?” She dumps a bunch of french fries in ketchup and then proceeds to shove them into her mouth. “How funny! Our siblings practically have the same name!”

And that’s how Lena finds out Kara apparently lives under a rock because the name Lex Luthor doesn’t phase her at all. This has to be some kind of joke.

Lena bristles, “Seriously, you don’t know about Lex Luthor? Kara, be serious.”

Kara wipes her lips and hands with a napkin. “I gotta be honest I didn’t even know who you were. But your last name seemed familiar so I googled it.”

“So you’ve seen the articles,” Lena shakes her head and starts to get up, “Thanks for the pity part, but I don’t need it.”

Lena goes to grab her bag when Kara’s hand grasps onto her wrist just above where the bracelet dangles. “Hey wait, wait, hold up, where are you going?” Kara asks, completely bewildered.

Lena jerks her hand back and snaps, “Well you’ve had your fun. Satisfied your curiosity right? ‘So this is the Luthor Lunatic’s sister’ Well, go win whatever bet you have going on with your friends and leave me alone.”

She grabs her bag without interruption this time and ignores Kara calling after her.

//

Fleeing from the food court, Lena seeks refuge in the underground computer science lab that she knows no one visits because everyone knows Lena _Luthor_ likes to hang out there — positive feedback loops and whatnot.

Anyways, gameplan: chill here for about 20 minutes which should give Kara enough time to give up on finding her, make it to her last class of the day, and never talk to Kara Danvers ever again. Nice solid plan.

Well, except for the fact her phone is vibrating incessantly. It’s either Lillian calling her to make her miserable, her lawyer calling her to tell her that Lillian is making him miserable, or it’s Kara and just the thought makes her gut wrench with misery.

She manages to shut her phone off without even bothering to look at the screen. She can feel hot tears welling up. Fuck, she hates how she cries so easily. She hugs her bag to her chest pretending that it’s her childhood teddy bear that she keeps hidden in her closet for her very bad days.

Well, she didn’t need Kara to throw her a pity party when she can plan one out herself, she thinks bitterly.

Just as her sobs begin to mellow out into hiccups, there’s a knock on the door. Damn it, it has to be some stupid freshman. Lena wipes at her eyes quickly, Lillian’s voice echoing in her head: Luthors don’t cry. She’s ready to intimidate the hell out of this ignorant newcomer when the door opens slowly to reveal Kara Danvers.

A very out of breath and panicky Kara Danvers.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I found you Lena!” Kara pants out as she tugs on her sweater to cool down.

Lena contemplates making a break for it but Kara’s still blocking the only exit. Instead she softens and quietly asks, “You came after me?”

Kara blinks owlishly at that, “Yeah of course.” Then, she looks worried and sorry, “You took off so fast I didn’t get a chance to explain myself.”

She looks at Lena with such sad and concerns eyes, as if gauging to see if she’s allowed to continued. Content that Lena isn’t about to leave, she explains, “Look I’m sorry I wasn’t forward that I knew about who you are. Alex always told me I wasn’t good at being subtle.” She looks away and swallows. “I did lie,” she confesses softly and wrings her hands together, “about not knowing your last name.”  

Then her head snaps up to gaze intently into Lena’s eyes, “But Lena, I don’t care that your last name is Luthor!” Her hands curl into fists and she shakes them and she knocks them against her thighs. “I really don’t! I know you’re not your brother and his actions don’t define who you are. I just wanted to find out who _you_ are.”

Oh, Lena thinks, absorbing Kara’s passionate explanation. _Oh._

“Sorry for bothering you. I just wanted you to know how I feel. I really think you’re sweet and cool but, I’ll leave you alone now if that’s what you want,” Kara finishes softly. Seeing Lena’s lack of reaction, she sighs and makes to leave, “Sorry again for everything.”

The door falls slowly behind her. The click of it shutting kicks Lena into gears. _Fuck, fuck fuck._

She slips on her bag and bolts out the door. She sees Kara turn corner and calls out, “Wait, Kara, wait!”

Running down the empty hall, Lena almost collides right into Kara. Kara grabs her by the shoulders to steady her, “Woah there. Are you okay?”

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Lena manages to get out, “I’m sorry too.” Before Kara can say anything, Lena cuts her off, “No, no. I’m at fault too. I was too quick to assume you had bad intentions. So, I’m sorry too. Can we start over?”

Kara smiles and nods, “Yeah I’d like that.” Releasing Lena’s shoulders, she sticks one hand out, “I’m Kara.”

Lena shakes her head at Kara’s antics but fits her hand into Kara’s. “Lena Luthor. It’s my pleasure.”

Lena’s bracelet dangles as they shake on it.

Just then Lena’s phone vibrates.

Lena curses, “It’s a text from Jess. Oh fuck, I’m late for class!”

“Oh, I’m sorry for inconveniencing you with all of this!” Kara apologizes sounding genuinely distraught when Lena’s the one that made it a lot more dramatic than it had to be. She offers meekly, “Can I make it up to you by walking with you at least?”

Lena hesitates just a bit but then nods. Kara’s bright smile confirms she’s made the right choice.

Their hands occasionally brush against each other as they walk.

//

Lena walks into her lab holding a take out bag while balancing a coffee tray. Jess had texted her about an emergency food delivery.

“Why are you even here at this hour?” she asks, putting the food on the bench and then handing a drink to Jess. “Here I got you a green tea latte.”

“Oh my god, I could kiss you,” Jess sighs as she takes a long sip of the warm beverage. “Too bad you’re taken.”

“Shut up,” Lena chides but blushes, “We’re not dating.”

“What? No way I call bullshit,” Jess says as she takes out the food containers from the plastic bag. She inhales deeply, “Oh my god, I’m fucking starving. I love you, Lena Lutessa Luthor.”

 Lena dismisses Jess’ dramatics, “Yeah, yeah. Just fix me up a plate too.”

“Sure thing your highness,” Jess says digging into the pad see ew. “Real though, what’s the 411? Y’all still text daily.”

“Yeah and she walks me to class and brings me lunch sometimes. I think she’s … courting me?” Lena admits after taking a sip of her own chai tea latte.

“Wait real important question that may or may not upset you,” Jess says as she hands a plate full of stir-fried noodles and vegetables for Lena. “She knows about your brother right?”

“Thanks. Oh yeah, that’s the thing,” Lena says as she takes the fork from Jess, “I sorta um blew up on her the other day? I swear, your drama tendencies are rubbing off on me. But yeah, I totally stormed out and everything. Can you see if they gave us sriracha?”

Jess digs through the bag, “Here. What made you storm out?”

“She asked about Lex but like as if she didn’t know about him you know? So, I got pissed and went to cool down in the computer lab.”

Jess nods and swallows, “Mhmm, code word for crying it out. But you’re still talking to her? What happened?”

“I don’t know how but she found me and apologized. I apologized too for assuming and we just kinda,” she shrugs, “talked it out.”

Jess stops, fork full of food hovering mid-air. “Oh my fucking god. That’s why you were late to Crane’s lecture?” Jess puts down her fork, “Lena, you have to marry her. Like immediately. I’ll get your marriage certificate expedited. I have to call my mom. Oh my god.”

Lena laughs, “Jessica, shut the fuck up.”

Jess points a finger at her, “Hey stop impersonating my mom if you’re not going to get the accent right.” She pulls out her phone and taps at it.

Lena continues to eat her dinner, “Jess, you know that’s racist if I do that.”

“Oh yeah you’re right. Don’t do that,” Jess agress. “Oh oh! It’s connecting!”

Realizing Jess is actually calling her mom, Lena gets up and tries to pry her phone away “Jess hang up right now!”

Pushing Lena away, Jess yells into the phone, “Oh my god, Jack you will not believe this! Lena Lesbian Luthor is now Lena Danvers Luthor!”

“What the fuck? You called Jack?” Lena asks, realizing it was a false alarm and immediately going back to her food. “Hey, I can do that accent that’s not racist.”

Jess hits the speaker option and Jack’s voice blares out, “Love, while it’s true that it’s not racist, your English accent is so atrocious that it might as well be a war declaration on the entirety of England. Stick to your Irish roots.”

“Up yours Jackson!” Lena yells back. Her phone vibrates with a text from Kara.

_—What are you doing right now?_

“Stop making up full names for people, Helena,” Jess says as she hands a napkin to Lena.

She thanks Jess for the napkin and types out her reply. 

_—Just made a food delivery for Jess. What’s up?_

“It’s Angelena and you know it, Jessebelle,” Jack’s voice drawls from the phone, “It’s also spelled wrong because that’s just how rich people do it. Anyways, who the fuck is Danvers?”

“Lena’s new boo! Her name’s Kara Danvers. She’s blonde and hot and doesn’t care about Lex,” Jess says proudly. “And I bet Lena’s texting her right now,” she adds, dodging the piece of carrot that Lena throws at her head.

Jack whoops loudly, “Wait wait. Repeat that. She doesn’t care about Lex?”

“Nope,” Jess emphasizes, popping the the end, as she bends to pick up the carrot and deposits it in the trash.

“Oh my god!” Jack exclaims and then laughs cheerfully. “Lena, darling, You have to marry her!”

“Right? That’s what I’ve been saying.” Jess takes a sip of her latte, “Anyways, I’m calling to let you know so you can prepare for the wedding, Jacky.”

“Jessica, shut the fuck up,” Jack’s voice crackles over the line. “You know I hate that nickname.”

“See?” Jess directs at Lena, “That’s how the accent goes.”

Lena throws another carrot that Jess successfully dodges again. “Hey stop that! I’m gonna tell my mom on you. Mom,” she whines into the phone while drawing out the word. “Lena’s throwing carrots at me.”

Lena’s phone vibrates again.

_—I know it’s out of the blue but wanna go watch a movie?_

Jack belly laughs, “Stop implying that I’m your mother unless I get to call Lena motherfucker.”

Lena, mid-reply to Kara, snaps her head up at that. “Jesus fuck, Jack,” Lena jokingly scolds, “I never have nor will I ever sleep with you. Not even in your dreams.”

“Not even in yours?” Jack teases.

“Jack, I’m a lesbian.”

Lena finishes typing out her reply.

_—Yeah sure! Should I pick you up?_

“Maybe in mine, Jack,” Jess says cheekily, earning a laugh from Jack and glare from Lena.

“Jessica. I’m. A. Lesbian.”

“Touche,” Jess replies as Lena’s phone goes off.

Lena immediately lights up. “Hey Kara!” She answers, “Yeah I was just finishing up with Jess. Mhmm, I’ll be right there. Text me your address. Yeah, see you soon.”

She looks up to see that Jess has the biggest grin on her face. She’s glad she hung up quickly because Jess yells excitedly into the phone, “Oh my god! Jack did you hear that? ‘Text me your address’ Our girl is getting laid, Jack!”

Jack whistles loudly and repeatedly as a hot blush consumes Lena. She splutters, “We’re just going to the movies!”

“Uh huh, you big ‘ol lesbian. Well, get out of here. Go lez it up like the big ‘ol lesbian that you are!” Jess encourages as Jack’s sings out the chorus to Ignition (Remix).

Lena sticks her tongue out.

“Hey, save that for your lesbian adventures!” Jess yells.

Lena sticks her middle finger out and the lab door shuts with a slam.

 


	2. makes me shiver but in a good way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena grow closer. Jess grows bolder. And Lena grows even more confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been a while y'all lol last sem was hectic but I'm finally chilling for the most part so hopefully next chapter won't take too long to exist. (Surprise it's a multichapter. Hate these lovely losers with me.)
> 
> Thanks to kei for beta-ing, caroline for the ideas, and bianca for the support!

“What does it mean if a girl gives you a basket full of vegetables?” Lena asks as she cuts up said vegetables to prepare for her dinner.

She has Chopped playing in the background on her laptop while she has an ipad mounted against her textbooks, video calling Jack.

“Basket full of vegetables? Surely you mean bouquet of flowers?” Jack asks, voice muffled from the overseas connection.

“Nope,” Lena says, popping the word. She pulls out a pan. “Kara gave me a basket full of spinach, cucumbers, carrots, and kale. Lots and lots of kale.”

Jack scratches his beard in mock thought. “Hmm, have you seemed constipated around her?”

“Jack!” Lena scolds incredulously, clanging the pan onto the stove. “You’re such an ass!”

“I’m keeping that pun to myself because you’re in a bad mood,” Jack laughs good-heartedly as per usual. His shrug is fuzzy on the screen. “But I don’t know. Girls are weird. Ask Jess what she thinks.”

Lena clicks on the stove and then reaches for a bottle of oil. “Jess just thinks Kara’s really sweet in the weirdest way possible. Her theory includes aliens.”

“Yeah right. Aliens don’t exist,” Jack dismisses, waving his hand as if to swat the idea away, and then adds nonchalantly, “Well maybe to your brother-” 

There’s a painful pause as they both process the words.

Jack immediately backtracks, apologizing profusely, “Wait fuck, fuck, fuck. Sorry, Lena, I didn’t mean that.”

Lena brushes it off. “No no it’s okay, Jack. You’re right. It’s absolutely silly. Aliens don’t exist.”

She tests the heat on the pan and then adds in the oil. Jack is still trying to apologize but Lena cuts him off, “Hey Jack, I should hang up. I totally forgot I had to finish an assignment that’s due tonight. I’m a complete idiot.” 

It’s a complete lie. She knows it. Jack knows it. She knows that Jack knows it. But what she loves about Jack is that he can take a hint. 

“Oh, oh, of course, Lena!” Jack nods and smiles despite the concern in his eyes. “I’ll call you again later, yeah?” 

And Lena can’t handle how his eyes soften just that much more, so she just nods and hangs up. 

The rest of the night is robotic. She finishes roasting her pumpkin seeds, adds them to her vegetables, and squeezes in lemon juice, making a kale salad as Alton Brown’s voice drawls in the background. 

Not even finding the wacky cooking challenges amusing, she shuts off her laptop and eats her dinner in silence.

Two bites in, she breaks out the white wine.

When she’s almost done with her salad and sufficiently buzzed, she pulls out her phone. She considers texting Jack but instead taps the first thread of her messages. 

— _Hey, the vegetables you got me were great! Especially the kale._

She adds a heart emoji but then shakes her head and deletes it. She hits send and leaves her phone in favor of a shower.

She comes back to a bunch of messages on her phone.

One from Jack reads: 

— _Hey, I just wanted to apologise again for what I said. It was careless and insensitive. It was clearly out of line and…_

The rest of the message is cut off in her preview but she ignores it altogether. Instead she taps on her thread with Kara. 

— _Hey!!! Sorry I was having a virtual sisters’ night and no phones are allowed :(((((_

— _YAY!! I’m glad you liked them. I got them from the farmer’s market for a great deal. The lil old lady at the booth was so nice!!_

— _We should go together some time!!_

The last message is full of emojis that Lena can’t even begin to interpret, ranging from party supplies to vegetables to red exclamation points.

She can’t help but manage a small smile at that. She sends back: 

— _Yes, definitely! I’d love that!_

Immediately, she gets a reply.

— _Great!! Sorry, I know it’s late but can I call you?_

Kara’s always preferred talking over texting. Lena appreciates it because it finally puts her unlimited minutes plan to good use (and maybe she just wants to hear Kara’s voice). Her contemplation must have been too long because Kara sends another text.

— _It’s okay nevermind! It’s late and you should sleep. Goodnight!_

It ends with a red heart emoji. That’s all it takes to crumble Lena’s self-deprecating defenses.

— _No, no, it’s okay! I can talk_

Her phone rings after she sends the text.

“Hi Lena!” Kara says, her voice is cheerful but also entering that soft gruffness it gets when Kara’s sleepy.

“Hi Kara,” Lena offers back softly.

“I was serious. We don’t actually have talk right now, Lena,” Kara tries again, guilt evident in her tone. “It’s okay if you’re tired. Really! We can talk later.”

Kara’s obvious concern and care makes Lena melt into her pillows. “I was serious too. I want to hear about your sister’s night, Kara.”

Lena can’t fight the genuine smile on her face as Kara recounts how Alex somehow tricked her into watching a horror movie together.

If she wakes up to their phone call still connected in the morning, well at least she has an unlimited plan.

(She makes a note to check if Kara has one too.)

//

She’s not sure how she ends up at a stereotypical frat party that’s blasting music with too much bass and too little substance, but she thinks she can blame Jess.

Speaking of the devil, Jess appears out of nowhere and screams, “Lena, you made it!” 

It’s evident that Jess is already wasted. She practically shoves a red solo cup at Lena who takes it just to make sure it doesn’t spill. Jess is gazing expectantly at her with glassy eyes, so Lena takes a tentative sip. She immediately regrets it as the taste of shitty beer settles on her tongue. She manages a weak smile that probably looks more like a grimace, but it’s enough to satisfy Jess who whoops happily. 

“Yes, bitch!” Jess cheers before her face drops again. “Oh, did I forget to tell you it was a costume party?”

Lena looks down at her plain jeans and blouse and then to Jess’ outfit. Jess, being Jess, has gone all out in a— 

Lena takes in her green eyeshadow and black outfit, “Oh my god, Jess are you really—”

“Am I a sexy Elphaba? Hell yeah!” Jess exclaims, pulling her hat over her eyes and smirking in imitation of the musical poster. It’s really ridiculous how the hat covers half her face easily while the rest of the costume…doesn’t cover much.

Lena just rolls her eyes and calls her a theater nerd.

“Please I know you think this costume is wicked. You’re just being faithful to Kara,” Jess teases.

“One, I can’t believe you made that pun and two—” Lena slaps Jess’ arm. She admonishes, “How many times do I have to tell you Kara and I aren’t dating.”

Lena is saved from further harassment when one of Jess’ friends comes up to them, also evidently drunk. She slurs, “Jess come dance with us!” and doesn’t even give Jess a chance to answer before grabbing her arm and tugging.

“Wanna join us?” Jess shouts as she’s being pulled away towards the makeshift dance floor. 

Lena wisely shakes her head no. Luckily, Jess doesn’t put up a fight this time. 

“Okay! Enjoy yourself! You know where to find me. You should call Kara!” she yells before disappearing to the sea of sweaty bodies. 

It’s unlikely Lena is gonna do either of those things given that this isn’t her scene and that Jess’ petite body is already out of sight. Plus, she really doesn't want to subject Kara to intoxicated idiots yelling and grinding against each other. Instead, she makes her way to a wall and sticks to it as she sips her shitty beer. 

She’s reading a text from Kara about her day volunteering at the animal shelter when she hears it.

“Ugh who invited the Luthor bitch?”

It’s a drunk frat boy who’s dressed in a green morphsuit with his face painted a matching color, complete with antennas. 

“Hey Luthor, look! Aliens do exist!” He jeers at her as his friends laugh. He makes sure to bump her cup as he passes, causing the beer spill onto her shirt. Luckily, the encounter ends quickly with the group making jeers before disappearing into the kitchen. Those who saw the exchange just stare at her with no remorse and whisper to each other. 

She wants to be mad but all she feels is resignation. She knew she shouldn’t have come. 

Stepping outside, she takes Jess’ advice and dials. It takes less than two rings for Kara to answer.

“Hi Lena,” Kara’s voice sounds warm in her ear, contrasting the cold night’s wind. “Aren’t you at a party?”

“Yeah, I’m taking a breather outside.” Then Lena adds, despite already knowing Kara’s answer, “Wanna come through? There’s free beer.”

Kara laughs loudly but rejects, “Sorry, big frat parties aren’t really my scene.”

Lena laughs softly in return, “Yeah they’re not mine either. The beer’s shitty anyways.”

“I know. You don’t even like American beer. It’s Irish or bust for you,” Kara responds and Lena’s just a tad touched that Kara remembers that she has a guilty pleasure for Irish stout. “Jess dragged you right? So what are you doing now?”

“Just taking a breather outside.”

“You said that,” Kara laughs. “I meant are you planning on going back inside? I can come pick you up if you need a ride.”

Lena contemplates it and decides anywhere would be better than here. She agrees. 

“Sweet! Okay give me like 10 minutes. Text me the address please?”

//

After Lena climbs into Kara’s old Tacoma, they decide to just have a chill night inside watching romcoms. A voice in her head that sounds too much like Jess whispers, “Netflix and Chill” and Lena internally slaps herself to snap out of it.

Even in the 15 minutes it takes to drive over to Kara’s place, Kara’s managed to make her feel better — almost enough to forget the horrible boys from earlier. Kara blasts ByeByeBye and sings — no, more like performs — with such passion that it convinces Lena to join along by the chorus. Soon enough they’re both screaming to throwbacks by Britney and the Backstreet Boys as well. 

When they arrive, Kara tells her, “Just make yourself at home. I’m gonna go grab some blankets and pillows and a change of clothes for you.”

Lena’s been to Kara’s apartment a few times but only in quick stops for Kara to pick up something or if they needed to make a quick bathroom stop before heading to their hang out destination of the weekend. She takes the time to familiarize herself with Kara’s space. 

Everything’s just so _Kara_. She has pictures of who Lena assumes are her friends and family — so many pictures — on her walls and shelves. She counts five different individuals that recur with different poses in different place, ranging from normal posed smiles in front of a national park to candid moments full of joy at a picnic. 

Besides Kara, Lena identifies two women that are in almost every picture: a young brunette, most likely Alex, with an older blonde, who must be Eliza. The older gentleman who gradually disappears as the girls get older must be Jeremiah. The younger man that appears in the silliest shots must be Kara’s best friend, Winn. 

Lena smiles solemnly as she strokes the edge of a picture frame of the Danvers posing in a traditional family set-up in front of their beach house. Her apartment lacks any photos except for the lone picture near her bedside of Jack, Jess, and her at a Christmas party last year.

She’s looking at Kara’s collective of refrigerator magnets when Kara comes out of the hall with an arm full of blankets and pillows. She dumps them onto her couch and then fishes around before pulling out a long-sleeve shirt and joggers.

“I think these should fit you. They’re my softest items,” Kara says as Lena makes her way over to the couch. “You can change in the bathroom. It’s the door on the right.”

Lena takes the clothes and Kara’s right. The clothes are soft. She thanks her softly and makes her way to the bathroom. The bathroom, like the living room, is organized and clean but personal. Kara doesn’t have many products out, but she has a matching towel set as well as a personalized soap dispenser. They’re most likely gifts from Eliza.

Lena changes into Kara’s clothes and folds her own nicely. They fit a little tight but hang a little long on her body. She rolls the pants up around her hips but lets her hands tuck into the shirt sleeves. 

When she enters the living room, Kara’s assembled the pillows and blankets into a fort around the couch with assistance from her bar stools. The coffee table has been moved to the wall and Lena can smell popcorn. Kara’s browsing through the rom-com section when she notices Lena. 

“Hey I made popcorn! You can leave your clothes on the counter.” She taps at the pillow next to her for Lena to sit. “What do you wanna watch?”

“Do they have Pride and Prejudice?” Lena asks and she settles next to Kara.

“Ugh no,” Kara huffs but then draws out dramatically as she shuffles towards the TV, “but—“ 

She rummages through the cabinet and pulls out a DVD. “I do!” she exclaims happily and beams at Lena. She pops the disk in and settles back into the pillows.

“Gosh I love this movie. I could watch it forever,” she says as she hits play. “Would you pass me the popcorn bowl please?”

Lena passes the bowl. “Honestly, I would die for Keira Knightley.”

Kara squeals.“Yes! Oh my god! I was so caught in between Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner when I was a kid.” She looks seriously at Lena. “We should watch Pirates of the Carribeans after this.”

“Cheers to that,” Lena nods and they knock two pieces of popcorns together. “Now shh, I wanna see Elizabeth Bennett rip Mr. Darcy a new one.”

Kara stays quiet for less than three seconds before she pipes up, “Hey, have you noticed Keira plays a lot of characters named Elizabeth? What’s up with that?”

Lena just pushes her handful of popcorn into Kara’s mouth to shut her up.

//

Lena wakes up to the slight buzzing of the TV vibrating through the room with a warm body pressed against her side. The blue light of the screen illuminates enough for Lena to make out Kara’s soft features. She’s drooling slightly which makes Lena giggle. Kara’s arm around her tightens in response and Kara scoots closer. 

Unfortunately, the pressure against her torso reminds her of why she’s woken up. As quiet as she can, she wiggles out of the embrace and pads to the bathroom. When she’s finished, she notices the lights in the bedroom is on. Kara pokes her head out. 

“Hey,” she says softly as she lays her head against the doorframe. “I thought the bed would be nicer to our backs.”

Lena gulps and tries to find a way out of the cliche bed-sharing trope that is sure to kill her, “Oh, I’ll be fine on the couch then.” 

Kara simply rolls her eyes and heads to grab Lena from where she’s lingering in front of the bathroom, “Shh, too tired to argue. C’mon.”

Lena allows Kara to tug her into the room and onto the full-sized bed. At least it’s not a twin, Lena thanks her stars. She makes her way as close to the edge as possible and waits for Kara to turn off the light. 

Five minutes pass and the lights are still on. Lena turns her head to find Kara soundly passed out. Lena shakes her head fondly and careful reaches across Kara’s sleeping body to reach the lamp. 

She pauses and notices the picture frame on the table. There’s a young Kara probably middle school aged, holding a baby as she sits in the a chair. Three couples stand behind her. Two of the men stand tall and proud, most likely brothers. Two of the women look even more alike than the brothers — twins? 

She gives the photo a final glance before turning off the lights. 

// 

When they wake up for the second time, the winter sun filters through the blinds and colors the room. This time Kara isn’t completely pressed against her, but Lena can still feel her warmth. 

And she’s awake.

“Hey,” she whispers, smiling gently.

“Hey,” Lena offers in return.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yeah,” Kara yawns and stretches. “I actually slept really well. I usually don’t.”

Having just woken up, Lena’s inhibitions are at a low and she can’t help herself, “You don’t either?”

Kara smiles gently but doesn’t press. Instead she explains quietly, “When I was first adopted by the Danvers, I just couldn’t sleep. Alex would let me sneak into her bed and hold my hand.”

Kara pauses but Lena can tell she has more to say so holds her tongue as Kara reaches out to play with the bracelet on Lena’s wrist. 

“Kara, it’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Lena says softly, seeing the pain and sadness in Kara’s eyes.

Kara closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, “No, it’s okay. I want you to know.” 

Lena hitches a breath when Kara switches to directly stroking the skin on the inside of her wrist.

“My home. We had a civil war. Political instability. My family sent me away with my cousin when I was 12 but we got separated.”

She pauses again and ever so quietly she whispers, “They were supposed to follow.”

She stops there.

Lena doesn’t know what to do except slide her hand into Kara’s and interlock their fingers. Kara gives a squeeze in return and they just lay there side by side, Kara with her eyes closed holding onto Lena’s hand like a lifeline as Lena gazes sympathetically and rubs her thumb across Kara’s hand.

Eventually, Lena closes her eyes too. 

She knew Kara had a slight accent that she could never place, but she never wanted to pry. Hell, she has her own slight accent too. She just didn’t anticipate that someone like Kara — so bright and open, seemingly so happy — had such a tragic and devastating backstory. It makes her heart ache with sadness but also swell with admiration.

She wants to know everything about Kara.

She feels her arm shift, but the warmth never leaves her hand. Instead, an additional weight presses on her shoulder and she peeks to find blonde hair in her view.

Kara lifts her head and smiles, “I’m hungry. Do you wanna go to IHOP?”

//

Kara’s half way through her breakfast steak after finishing a plate of eggs benedict as Lena humbly sips on her coffee. 

Through a mouthful of medium rare meat she mumbles out, “You never visited the museum? Lena, we live in National City.”

Pinking slightly, Lena takes another sip and responds, “Not an art one when it was open to the public like this.”

Maybe it’s still too early or maybe it’s the fact that Kara has her drinking shitty instant coffee at an IHOP that makes her continue, “My dad once, when Lillian was away on a business trip, he took me to a science museum in Metropolis. He bought me my first hot dog.”

Kara swallows before asking, “Well if you’re free today I’d like to take you to your first public art exhibit.”

And maybe it’s the way that Kara’s looking at her all soft and open with ketchup smeared on her cheek that makes Lena say yes. 

Kara makes a muffled cheering sound and throws up her arms in celebration looking very much like a victorious chipmunk. Lena smiles into her ceramic cup and excuses herself to the restroom.

//

It takes them about 20 minutes to get to the museum which is a miracle given National City’s horrible traffic. 

“I’m paying for our tickets since _someone_ snuck off to pay for breakfast under the guise of using the bathroom,” Kara proclaims as they approach the ticket booths. She quints her eyes at Lena and purses her lips in pseudo-anger.

“Sorry not sorry,” Lena replies cheekily and Kara rolls her eyes in return, lips easing into a good-hearted smile. 

Kara asks for two student tickets and they’re directed to wait off to the side for the shuttle. The small train brings them up the mountain and Lena’s greeted with stone steps and chiseled statues once she exits the tram. 

“Lena, Lena, Lena, go stand by the baby cupid,” Kara orders and pulls out her phone. 

“Kara, we’re not even in the building yet,” Lena groans but obediently makes her way over to the statue and poses. Kara snaps a few shots and shows Lena who nods as Kara beams. 

They make their way into the building and Lena takes in the large tapestry on the wall while Kara grabs two maps from the directory booth. She’s been in more extravagant places, but there’s something special about this place used to preserve culture and share it with the city.

“Okay what exhibit do you wanna see first? I think we’re really close to the Japanese section? Or do you want to find the 14th century Europe area?” Kara asks when she makes her way back to Lena’s side.

Lena pretends to contemplate it before just smiling. “How about you surprise me?”

That gets Kara beaming. “Oh you don’t know what you got yourself into, Lena Luthor.”

She grabs Lena’s hand and pulls her towards the stairs, the bracelet dangling in between them.

//

Two hours into their journey through the ancient civilizations artifacts and pottery, they stumble upon an exhibit that has Kara utterly bouncing off the walls. She turns and grabs Lena’s shoulders, mood shifting from excited golden retriever to super serious and solemn. 

Gazing directly into Lena’s eyes and giving her shoulders another squeeze, she asks, “Lena, do you trust me?”

Lena swallows the tension between them and briskly nods, unable to look away from Kara’s sharp blue eyes.

Kara nods too, hands still holding onto Lena. “Okay, good. I trust you too.” She licks her lips and sends Lena’s heart rate skyrocketing. Kara _trusts_ her. 

That thought is intoxicating enough in itself but then Kara utters her next phrase, “Now, can you do me a favor?”

She leans in and Lena feels like she might pass out any second. Lena can feel her breath tickle her ear as Kara quietly asks, “Close your eyes for me?”

Slowly, Lena does as she’s told. Immediately, she starts praying before deciding to accept her early death. She feels Kara’s hands drift from her shoulders to her elbows as she starts to plan her own funeral.

She’s contemplating if she should even bother inviting Lillian when she feels Kara’s fingers drum against her skin and can’t help but silently gasp when suddenly she’s being _pulled_. 

She almost opens her eyes when Kara shushes her, “Hey, hey. Trust me. Keep your eyes closed.”

Trust. Trust. Trust.

Taking a breath, Lena stops her eyes from fluttering open as she feels Kara shift to her side, safely guiding her steps into what Lena assumes to be the exhibit. 

They take a few minutes full of stumbles and giggles from Kara but the firm and steady grip on her shoulder and forearm keeps Lena’s eyes closed for the journey.

Finally, Kara stops them and whispers, “Okay, open your eyes and tell me what you see.”

Lena slowly opens her eyes and blinks a few times to try chase away the spots of lights. She does it a few more times because all she’s seeing is blobs of color. She lets confusion color her voice, “Umm, Kara is this supposed to be like abstract art or something?”

Kara just softly laughs before she starts to tug Lena back a few steps, apologizing to a passing family they almost run into. As they back away from the painting, Lena realizes the colors start to form a picture. 

“Do you see it now?”

Lena can only nod as she soaks in the imagery.

It’s a house surrounded by a field of flowers. 

The messy overlap of colors dotted on the canvas bring in an air of softness and brightness. It looks almost like a snapshot someone took in celebration of their home and garden. 

Kara lets go of her arm and shoulder and Lena mentally shakes off the feeling of already missing her warmth as Kara explains, head tilted towards Lena, “This is my favorite art form. I love that up close it looks like haphazardly placed drizzles of paint.” 

She turns her head to the painting, soaking it in, “But if you just a take a step back.” Her voice becomes such a fond tone that Lena can’t help but turn away from the painting and look softly at her profile. “And you give it some space to grow. It looks...”

“Beautiful,” Lena finishes as she keeps her gaze on Kara. She sees the corner of Kara’s eye wrinkle as well as the corner of lips curve up into a smile. She holds onto the serenity in Kara’s feature for just a second longer before turning her head just in time as Kara turns to look at her. 

“Yeah,” Kara agrees softly, “Beautiful.”

Lena feels warmth on her hand and looks down to see Kara entangling their fingers. She looks up as Kara quietly admits, “It reminds me of home.”

And Lena doesn’t know what to do with the far-off look in Kara’s eyes except to squeeze back.

Kara gives her a small smile she’s only seen once before—this morning when they spoke of her home.

Kara swings their joint hands once, making the bracelet on Lena’s wrist dance. “Come on. There’s so much more we haven’t even seen yet.”

//

Lena walks into lab the following day with a wide grin and hands Jess her coffee. Jess takes her coffee, sips once, raises her eyebrows and asks, “So how was your date?”

Lena stumbles in setting her things away and turns to look at Jess with a blush coloring her cheeks. She straightens up and reaches around Jess to grab her lab coat before stating indignantly, “It wasn’t a date.” 

If Jess ever had a record for how high her eyebrows could raise in her forehead, she breaks it in that moment as she makes a scoffing sound and starts listing off her fingers. 

One. “First, you ditch the party.” 

Two. “Then you spend the night at her place.” 

Three. Her voice starts rising, “After, you get breakfast and spend the entire _day_ at the museum.” 

Four. “And you get _dinner_.” 

Five. Using her fully unfurled hand, Jess gestures at her drink as if it explained everything while Lena just stares as she puts her hair up. “It’s a vanilla iced latte!” 

Lena quirks an eyebrow, “Yes?”

Jess makes a sound of frustration and slaps her palm against the lab bench. “You ordered me a _vanilla iced latte_. You only save that for special occasions!”

Lena rolls her eyes and starts setting up her materials for the day, “Jessica, you’re being ridiculous.” 

If Lena didn’t grow up under the cold hard gaze of one Lillian Luthor, then maybe the look Jess is giving her now would affect her. “Girl, spill.”

Lena sighs and turns to Jess, her shoulders sagging in defeat. “Look, it was nice and Kara was there for me while your drunk ass was slutting it up with Alpha Epsilon whatever but it still wasn’t a date.”

“I am so tempted to hit you with this wrench but I don’t want to deal with a new lab partner.”

“Jess, can we just drop this? I don’t even know if Kara’s into girls.”

It’s true. Her interactions with Kara have been… confusing to say the least. Kara’s too nice and Lena’s too hopelessly gay to tell if it’s a flirty nice or just a nice nice.

It’s Jess’ turn to roll her eyes. “Please I saw her car when she came and got you. She’s into girls.”

“ _Jess_ ,” Lena snaps, exasperation colored her tone and expression. God, why is she so worked up? She hasn’t been this worked up since Lex went and —

“Okay, okay,” Jess says as she raises her hands in surrender and drops the subject. She knows Lena’s not one to snap, so she switches tactics. “But I swear to god if I’m not the first person to hear about how this develops, I’m suing you for emotional distress and treason.”

Lena gives into the light teasing, appreciating Jess for not pushing any further. She plays along, her eyebrows lifting up in mock conspiracy. “You know I’d win that lawsuit. My Luthor lawyers and all.”

It definitely wasn’t a date.

_Right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna slowly leak my playlist for this fic:
> 
> Out of My League // Stephen Speaks
> 
> You and Me // Lifehouse
> 
> Leave a comment below if you're so inclined. Thank you for reading!


	3. and I'm out of my league once again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An insight to Krypton's weird mating rituals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Y’all wanted a pov change?

“Aunt Astra come play with me!” Kara calls out, excited to see her aunt after her long trip.  
  
“Of course, my dearest little one! What shall we play today?” Astra asks, allowing her niece to pull her towards the child’s bedroom.

It’s a wide room for a child, typical of Zor-El to spoil his only child. It’s as cluttered as a Kryptonian gets with toys, many of which Astra herself gifted from her journeys, and what looks like the start of some scientific experiments. Oh, her precious little genius. Astra knows that Kara will one day lead their science guild graciously. But for now, she will indulge in her niece’s imagination.  
  
“I wanna do the Ceremony!” Kara yells as she releases Astra’s hands and runs to gather the supplies.  
  
Astra chuckles, endeared by her niece’s enthusiasm. “Of course, sweetheart.” She moves to the middle of the room and kneels. “Shall we begin?”  
  
Kara scrambles to gather her covers from her bed. She carefully arranges the sheets between her and her aunt and claps her hands once she’s satisfied with her work.  
  
She looks at her aunt for approval and gets a nod in return, pride and love apparently in Astra’s eyes. “Very good, little one! Now step one is—"  
  
Kara cuts her off excitedly, “The Handoff!”  
  
Astra grins so proudly at her niece’s excitement. “That’s right, Kara. Now would you like to be the Giver or shall I?”  
  
“Me, me, me!” Kara chants then practically dives to her knees to gather the blankets in her excitement. She rushes out the beginnings of the vows, blankets muffling her voice as she’s engulfed in the fabrics, “My dearest, I accept your House into my heart and I return its symbol to you in- in—"  
  
Gently, Astra rearranged the blankets to free her niece from its confines and joins Kara in reciting the Oath. Her tone is lovely and her speed is slow yet rhythmic, pacing Kara to follow her, “In respect and honor of you and your family. Please accept my admiration and love for you-“  
  
“In return as well!” Kara finishes in a flourish and thrusts out her arms to offer the blankets to her aunt with both hands, bowing her head.  
  
“I accept,” Astra smiles fondly and takes the blanket from her. She brings the fabric around herself and wears it around her own shoulders like a cape.  
  
“Very good, Kara,” Astra praises, “And now for the-“  
  
“Joining and Acknowledgement!” Kara exclaims, tumbling over the last word. She hurries to her feet and offers her hands to her aunt. Astra takes me into her own and clears her throat. “I, Astra In-Ze, am pleased to accept thee into my House.”  
  
Kara beams and continues, “And I, Kara Zor-El, am pleased to accept thee into my House.”  
  
“And now for the final part,” Astra pauses, anticipating her niece’s exclamation.  
  
“The Exchange! It’s my favorite part!” Kara releases one of Astra’s hands and reaches behind her back. She holds up a pretend bracelet —“it’s invisible!”— and slides it onto Astra’s wrist.  
  
Kara laughs gleefully and hugs her aunt. “I can’t wait for my real Ceremony. You have to be there! And Mother and Father, of course! And Uncle Jor-El and whoever he matches!”  
  
Astra laughs and kisses Kara’s hair. “Of course, little one. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

//

“It doesn’t count. It doesn’t count. It doesn’t count,” Kara mumbles to herself when she gets back to her apartment. She shakes her head at herself while quietly berating herself. It takes her three attempts to finally get her key in the lock and twist the door open. She’s still clutching her cloak so tightly to her chest in her other hand that her knuckles are white.

Stepping into the empty apartment, she continues talking to herself while padding through the living room to her bedroom, “It doesn’t count because she doesn’t know, Kara.”

She flicks on the light to the bathroom, “This isn’t Krypton.”

She grabs her toothbrush and applies an ample amount of toothpaste. “This isn’t Krypton.”

She pads back into the bedroom, now spiraling with shadows created from the bathroom’s fluorescent lights. She sits on her window sill and looks out below to the university town below, still lively with students not yet dying in the clutches of exams. She sighs so heavily her shoulder drops.

“This… isn’t Krypton,” she softly whispers to herself before beginning to brush her teeth.

She goes through the reasons in her head as she finishes her bathroom routine. And then goes through them again out loud as she changes for the night.

“First the Oath wasn’t even right,” Kara says to herself as she picks out her pajamas. “Two, it was the library of all places.” She changes her pants.

“Three, we didn’t do the Exchange.”

(She definitely doesn’t not think about the box of heirlooms her parents left her which may or may not include her grandfather’s mating bracelet that was given to her grandmother.)

She changes her shirt. “And- and—“ Kara mumbles as she gets into bed and pulls the cloak close.  
  
And none of her family was there to witness their Ceremony, she can’t bring herself to say.  
  
So it definitely, definitely does not count.

Does. Not. Count.  
  
Still, Kara drifts off to sleep with her cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

It’s the first night in years that she doesn’t dream of death and destruction but rather she dreams of a lively Krypton.

A happy Krypton.

//

While still clad in her pajamas and the cloak still encompassing her as she ate her cereal, Kara phones her sister.

It takes three rings before Alex Danvers picks up the line, voice still gruff with sleep.  “Kara? God, do you know what time it is?”

Through a mouthful of cereal, Kara mumbles out, “Yeah, sleepyhead, it’s 10 in the morning.”

Alex groans. “Exactly, it’s _early.”_ There’s a few more groans and some curses before she asks, “What do you want from me?”

Kara’s ears burn in embarrassment. She rubs the back of her neck as she stutters through an explanation, “Umm, so I- I kinda met this- this girl.”

There’s a thud on the other line followed by sheets ruffling and a string of colorful curses.

“Alex?” Kara asks, so concerned that she puts down her spoon. Her voice rises when she doesn’t immediately hear a response, “Alex, are you okay?”

Kara hears Alex groan again but this time it’s one of pain more than misery. “Fuck, fuck, I’m okay.” She hears more rustling in what she assumes is Alex wrestling her way out of her sheets and throwing the fabric beast back onto her bed. “Yep, I’m okay. Anyways, a girl? Did you say a girl?”

Reassured that her favorite human is still intact, Kara takes a bite so haphazardly that her teeth clanks against the metal. To Alex, it spells out loud and clear, “I, Kara Danvers, am so dejected and confused about these weird things I’m feeling. Please help.”

So, Alex, in all of her charm and tact, calls her out, “You like this girl?”

It’s Kara’s turn to groan. Loudly. And pathetically. “Yeah I guess?”

She shyly admits, “I just- I sorta feel a strong connection to her.” She shrugs, as if her sister could see how much this is weighing her down. “I dunno.”

Alex laughs as if she can perfectly see Kara’s pout in her head. “Just act normal then, you dork. Talk to her, get her number, get to know her.”

Then the whining begins. “Then what Alex? I’ve never done this before.”

Kara doesn’t physically stomp her foot but in her and Alex’s heart of hearts, she might as well have.

“Gosh, as if I wasn’t a useless lesbian myself,” Alex mumbles to herself. Kara hears the opening and closing of cabinets as Alex prepares herself some breakfast. “Okay umm, walk her to class. Take her to lunch. You know the typical things. Girls like that right? I mean, we like that.”

Kara can hear the softly clanking of Alex pouring herself some cereal as well. She can picture the Coco Puffs filling up a bowl, soon to be matching her own floating in their milky sea.

“And we’re girls.”

“Right. Right,” Kara nods to herself. She lifts her bowl up to drain her milk. She uses her hand to wipe her milk moustache after sighing in content. Coco puffs really are the best cereal. “Okay talking and food. I like that. You like that. We’re girls.”

“Right, so, ergo, girls like that. See simple?” 

“Okay, okay,” Kara says then releases a stressful breath. Then softly she adds, “Hey Alex?”

Alex hums in acknowledgement as she pours her milk.

“When this doesn’t work out, can we live together in our old age as spinsters?” Kara asks as she walks her empty bowl over the sink. “I promise to take care of you as we wither away. Lonely. Single. Unmarried.”

“Hey!” Alex yells, offended. “Who says I’m gonna die alone, huh? Don’t drag me down this sad and pathetic rabbit hole with you.”

Laughing Kara counters, “I just said you wouldn’t have to die alone. I’ll be with you!”

Alex scoffs, “I’d rather die alone.”

“Is that a no?”

“Bye, Kara. I love you.” She hangs up before Kara could finish getting out, “Love you too, Alex” between her laughter.

//

She ends up buying a silver bracelet from a local jewelry store run by a nice Eastern European elder couple. It costs a bit more than her monthly budget would allow for extra expenditures, but she can skip a few boxes of cookies (okay, a lot of boxes of cookies).

She requests if they could engrave a small phrase onto the inside of it. Even though she insists she can pay any extra charges, the couple just smiles and denies her offer.

“It must be for someone special, no?” the left older lady asks as she wraps her arm around her wife’s shoulder. They smile at each other and Kara can clearly see the love they share for each other. Gulping, Kara doesn’t confirm nor deny the statement. Instead, she quickly pays for the bracelet and agrees to pick it up on Friday.

Friday arrives and so does Kara to pick up the completed product. The engraving doesn’t have quite the right angles and slants of what she wrote down, but it’ll do. Plus, they didn’t even question the odd scripture, which Kara greatly appreciates. She thanks them again and they smile knowingly, promising a free refitting if needed.

Just be normal, Kara thinks to herself.

Casual.

It’s just a friendly gift.

Come Tuesday, she all but shoves the bracelet onto Lena’s wrist.

Way to be normal, Zor-El, Kara berates herself.

Way to be normal.

//

Somehow, by some miracle, Kara has managed to get Lena’s number and even hold a conversation. Oh thank, Rao (okay, more like thank Alex).

She’s so engrossed in formulating a text to explain to Lena why Star Wars is better than Star Trek – who cares about accuracy when there are space _cowboys_ (they both have it all wrong anyways). So, when someone taps her on the shoulder, Kara reflectively elbows them in the ribs.

Jumping out of Kara’s reach and consequently banging his knee against the table, Winnslow Schott Jr. sits two feet away in misery as he tends to his bruised ribs and wounded knee. “Well, hello to you too, Samurai Jack. Jesus, I think you broke an rib.”

Sheepishly, Kara puts down her phone. “Sorry, Winn. I didn’t see you there.”

He huffs, “Yeah, you didn’t hear me either. I’ve been calling your name for like the past 15 minutes, Kara. What’s up?”

Her phone vibrates again, and Kara’s hands shoot to grab it. Winn’s attitude makes a one-eighty from annoyed and injured to panicky and apologetic as his eyes get wide, “Oh, oh is everything okay? Is Alex okay? Eliza?”

Kara looks up from her phone and stares at him, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion at his shift in mood, “Yeah I’m fine. She’s fine. We’re fine. Why do you ask?”

Winn’s shoulders fall with relief as he relaxes again, “Oh thank god!” He scoots back closer to Kara again, reclaiming his abandoned backpack. “I was just worried.” He fishes out a sandwich and a bag of chips. “You have not put your phone down at all since I saw you from across the quad.”

Opening the bag, he takes out a few and offers the bag to Kara.

Kara blushes. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just texting my mate –” She catches herself. “School mate! You know, a fellow peer. Another attendee of this great institution. A tuition payer just like—”

Winn saves her the breath and just shakes his bag of chips at her, “Okay, you great writing minor you, I get it. You met them on campus.”

Gratefully, Kara sighs in relief and takes up his offer. She’s munching away, happy to have avoided anymore awkward dodging when Winn smiles conspiringly and wiggles his eyebrows, “So… are you crushing on this fellow peer?”

Immediately, she chokes.

Shocked, Winn just thumps her on the back until she’s gasping for air.

“Oh my god!” Winn yells as Kara inhales a few more lungful inhales, “Kara, are you okay?”

Kara just grimaces in what she hopes is a smile, “Oh yeah I’m fine! Just went down the wrong hole, you know. Failures of human anatomy and evolution or whatever.”

She pretends to check her watch, “Oh wow look at the time! I’m so sorry, Winn. I’m so late to my class, I gotta go!” She quickly gathers her bag and flees the scene.

Winn sputters, “But we have the same class together!” Kara ignores him and attempts to speed walk away. “And you forgot your phone!”

She curses and makes a U-turn. “Meeting with the TA! It might run long so don’t wait up for me. See you later!”

She grabs her phone and flees the scene once again, leaving Winn alone confusion written all over his face. Dejectedly he, takes a bite of his sandwich.

“Wow, okay. Rude.”

//

She’s lounging on her couch, flipping through her Netflix suggestions, when her phone vibrates. She blinks at the message on her phone. It’s from Alex. She sighs before shaking her head at herself. Since when has she ever been disappointed in getting a text from Alex?

She opens up the thread.

– _Hey ask that girl to go watch a movie tonight_

She’s changed her mind. She never wants a text from Alex again.

_—Why don’t you mind your own business_

She tacks on a few red-faced emojis and stop signs to seal the deal.

_—You’re the one that asked me for help, dummy. Just ask her lol_

Kara sits up and scrunches her face up in frustration, having a facial journey at her phone before slumping back into her sofa in defeat.

She crafts a few drafts, sending each one to Alex who only replies:

_–The last three sound fine. Just send the goddamn text, dummy_

Swallowing her fear, she copies and pastes the latest draft before hitting send. She throws her phone on her on the table and sends a quick prayer to Rao.

She plans to make herself a smoothie as she waits for a reply. She only gets in two steps away from the living room before her phone vibrates.

She dives for it.

And bangs her hand in the process.

Seeing the notification from Lena, all pain dissipates as she squeals.

She rolls around on her carpet in joy, only cut short by hitting her knee against the coffee table.

Pouting as she sits up and rubs at her knee, before panicking to get up. She needs to freshen up before picking up Lena. She’s scrambling to the bathroom before remembering to text Alex about her success and to offer a thank you for her help.

When she returns, feeling as satisfied as she’ll be with her appearance, Kara checks her messages again. She has one from Alex.

_—LOL, funny thought: what if you sent this to her on accident_

Kara blanches and promises to herself that she’ll always triple check who’s she’s sending her texts to in the future.

But right now, she’s grinning like an idiot as she grabs her keys and runs out the door.

She’s going to the movies with the prettiest girl in the galaxy.

//

“Kara, would you like to help me with dinner tonight?” Zor-El’s voice resonances throughout the house. No response. He tries one more time before his daughter appears in the corridor. Oh, he misses how she would run immediately after hearing his voice – the pit pat of tiny feet and the excited squeal at the prospect of helping her father. They just grow up way too fast.

A pre-teen Kara Zor-El washes her hands before picking up and examining the vegetables on the counter. “Why don’t we just ask the robots to do it?”

Zor-El laughs before ruffling her hair and avoiding her swatting hands as he reaches around her to get the soap before washing his own hands.

“Because I want to make something special for your mother. She got these vegetables for me this morning. Fresh from the vendors.”

Kara makes a face as she fixes her hair. “I think she just wants you to make her favorite dish.”

Zor-El laughs again, his deep voice like joyous thunder. “You’re probably right on that one, Daughter. Your mother is a smart woman. I thank Rao every day for matching us together.”

Zor-El instructs Kara to wash the vegetables as he starts opening the drawers to bring out all the items they need.

“Take some notes for the future, my daughter. Giving food to a loved one is a sign of care and cherishment,” Zor-El lectures as he starts chopping the vegetables Kara had already washed. “Rao blessed our planet with light that sprouted life. You remember what life essentially is right, little one?”

Kara answers dutifully as she finishes washing the last of the vegetables. “It’s moving energy, Father.”

“That’s right, my dearest,” Zor-El nods his head approvingly with pride. “So, giving food is a symbol of the exchange of that energy. We’re sharing Rao’s gift and love.”

He gives Kara a moment to let that sink in before handing her the knife to take over the cutting as he readies the pan.

“So, what’s the lesson of that, Kara?”

Without even looking up, Kara deadpans, “Mother is more romantic than you are.”

Zor-El stops his actions and belly laughs. “And you are more comedic than I am.”

He walks over to Kara and kisses the crown of her head with affection. “Yes, you are right. But it also means that love is what the universe thrives off. Remember that well, my love.”

//

The first movie night works. And text a lot. And hang out. A lot.

Like right now, they’re having another movie night and they are both drunk. Very very drunk. Pride and Prejudice is playing on Kara’s screen again, which Lena teased her for.

Kara had spluttered upon entering the DVD into the player, “Oh I’m sorry! We can totally watch something else if you want?”

Lena had merely shaken her head fondly and beckoned Kara to settle into the couch, “Nonsense. This is _our_ movie now.”

Kara had blushed and sloppy slinked over to sink into the couch besides Lena. Keeping a modest distance between them of course.

They’ve reached the segment where Darcy was confessing his love when Kara softly speaks, “Pride and prejudice reminds me of my parents.”

Lena picks her head up from where it’s laying on Kara’s shoulder – the previously modest distance having disappeared as the movie progressed.

Kara keeps her gaze on the screen, but she starts playing with Lena’s fingers, just tracing them softly and slowly, “We were a very modest society. We had what were essentially arranged marriages but like more based on religion. If Ra- god deemed two people to be good matches for each other.”

“Like matching star signs or something?”

“No not just compatibility,” she hmms as she tries to piece her words together, “More like zodiac signs? Like in Chinese culture.”

She tilts her head down to look at their hands in her lap.

“My mother matc- married what was considered below her status. But fate put them together anyways.”

Kara’s hand traces from Lena’s fingers to playing with her bracelet.

Quietly, Kara asks, keeping her gaze on Lena’s wrist, “Do you believe in fate?”

Placing her head back on Kara’s shoulder, Lena whispers, “I think I do now.”

//

They’re lying in Kara’s bed, as they on movie nights post-movie. Their bones are heavy with sleep and their muscles are relaxed with wine but neither seem ready to leave each other’s presence – not even for dreamland.

Kara’s lying on her side, looking at Lena who has her eyes closed. Maybe it’s the deep affection of seeing Lena so vulnerable or maybe it’s the alcohol running through her veins but quietly she asks, “What was Lex like?”

Lena takes a while to answer that Kara thinks she might have fallen asleep. But then she answers choppily, eyes still closed, “He was smart and charming. He was kind before it all happened.” She whispers the last part, voice so small, Kara had to read them off of her lips, “I wanted to be just like him.”

“Lena,” Kara says, her voice soft and warm, scooting closer and brushing a hair that had fallen over Lena’s closed eyes, “What was your brother like?”

Swallowing and leaning into Kara’s touch, Lena continues, “Before I started school, he used to bring me cookies. I never knew where he got them. Maybe from school. He snuck them in his backpack and taught me how to hide the wrappers. It was our little secret.”

Kara’s hand drifts to pet Lena’s hair, “We used to have nerf gun fights when our parents were away on business. If it was warm, we’d have water balloon fights too. With super-soakers.”

“He used to take the blame for me when Mom was mad. He knew he was her favorite. And I would take the blame for him when Dad was mad. I knew I was his.”

Kara gently pulls Lena’s head to fit into the space between her neck and shoulder. Lena’s arm comes around her waist and she mumbles her last sentence into the soft cotton of Kara’s shirt.

“He always told me I was his favorite person though. And once upon a time, he was mine.”

Kara just holds Lena close to her, stroking her hair. Lena also falls asleep when Kara voice vibrates against her forehead.

“I was an only child so by default I was the favorite,” Kara whispers and it makes Lena smile against her shoulder. “My dad was a scientist. He’d take me to the lab and show me his experiments. He also loved to cook. My mom was something like a judge. She’d let me sit on her lap during smaller… cases. Yeah cases. I loved my parents a lot and they loved me.”

Lena wills her tired arm to wrap tighter around Kara’s waist.

“My favorite person though was my aunt. She was my mom’s twin and I thought she was the coolest person ever. She was like a general, but she was the kindest and most caring person. No matter how busy she was, she’d find time to visit and indulge in playing with me.”

“I had a baby cousin. I was supposed to take care of him but I lost him when we escaped.”

Lena makes a sound of distress, brain too heavy with sleep to voice anything else, “Do you think – have you looked for him?”

Kara shrugs, the movement making Lena’s head rise and fall, “I don’t know. I’ve tried but he was just a baby. Most likely put up for adoption under a different name.”

“I just want to tell him about home. He deserves to know where he comes from.”

It’s quiet for a moment again but it’s comfortable.

Shifting to be more comfortable, Lena sincerely says, “Thank you for sharing with me.”

Kara nods, her cheek rubbing against Lena’s forehead, “I just want you to know who I am.”

They’re both falling asleep but Lena fights to get one last sentence out, mumbling it against the skin of Kara’s neck, “Kara, we’ll find him. I promise you.”

Kara hmms her appreciate and kisses Lena’s forehead. Laying her head against Lena’s, they fall asleep in each other’s arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Coco puffs are actually the worst. Kara has poor taste in cereal – it’s her only major character flaw. This post is in honor of me passing ochem. I hope these good vibes carry to you all as well -- get that bread. No beta this time so all mistakes are mine; apologies.

**Author's Note:**

> moral of the story: always be nice and return things to people you can get yourself a sweet alien lover
> 
> also stay tuned. possibly.


End file.
